Thread regarding Honeywell International Inc. layoffs

I lived through that period too. It wasn't all roses, as DC implied. First, he didn't accomplish anything before that period, and you can see that from the stock price. I think he realized that his legacy would be sh– if he didn't do something, and this was the launch pad. His "strategy" may have "saved" jobs, but it also began the reduction of benefits that still exist today. After he couldn't take over UTC (which he planned to run beyond his retirement age), his sourness apparently manifested itself into the no WFH "strategy" and that was his departing gift. Of course he made millions in the stock market that year, despite knowing that some SBG's, like Aero, had already told him they would miss their numbers. But hey, it was all about Dave, and definitely not about what the employees did for him.

Anyone who donates to hipac or reads those political emails is a dummy.

@1eik your assesment is spot on.

I lived through his entire tenure, and things weren’t quite so smooth as he presents. What he doesn’t admit is that Honeywell was sitting on a pile of cash (literally billions), yet still made the employees bear the cost of making numbers through furloughs, benefit cuts, layoffs, and reduced overhead spending. They continued to prop up the stock through buybacks even as workers saw their take home shrink. It was also an opportunity to dump a lot of expensive older workers. He did good for the stockholders and executives, but was totally tone deaf to the front line workers’ needs.

Read the whole article before you decide. No, not all the tactics put in place by Cote were popular with employees at the time but many survived long enough to still be here. But his job wasn’t a cake walk either and wasn’t done out of a sense of malice towards employees or suppliers.

2 things stuck out in this article. Cote says to listen to the quiet ones. Has this leadership really sought out the opinions/ideas of everyone on how we can all make it through this and survive the long haul? (Assuming they want US citizens including themselves to survive) Second, Cote said that he wished he communicated more. Communication is still very lacking this time around - either late or non existent.

What Cote was good at was selling the idea that we were all in this together and the implicit promise was if we all did belt tightening then, it would be restored later. Alas ,instead the company decided to Take this to the next level and offshore jobs with mixed results.

Bottom line, is grit your teeth and put up with this for now as we are living in a history changing moment, but be prepared if you are truly unhappy to move as quick as you can into something else when it’s over.